"Hoaam…"
Iris had just yawned, which meant she was already sleepy.
Well, a girl like her probably wasn't the type who would stay up late at night.
I could tell just by looking at her appearance and the way she acted.
"You must be sleepy, right? I'll stay here for a few more minutes, so you should head back first," I said, stopping my gaze from her and leaning back against the railing.
Iris looked at me without answering right away after I said that, but eventually she smiled slightly and said—
"All right. Good night, Yuusha," Iris said while making a hand gesture toward me, as if she were about to wave.
"Good night, Iris," I replied.
After I heard the sound of the door closing, I slowly closed my eyes.
This was the perfect time for me to feel this sense of calm.
—
As I said before, I only stayed on the balcony for a few more minutes.
The longer I stayed outside, the colder the air became, and since there was no one else on the balcony with me, there was no reason for me to remain outside.
I returned to my room and saw Luke still sleeping soundly, his bed already messy because of him.
The window was still letting in light, but since I wanted to sleep peacefully tonight—
Sret.
I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain shut to block out the light coming in.
The room became darker than before, but I could still see clearly. In that case, this was good.
I climbed onto my bed and let my body fall limply onto it.
"Hah… this feels… nice…" I muttered before my eyes finally closed and I fell asleep.
Maybe it was because the bed was so comfortable that I fell asleep very quickly.
Or maybe my body was simply exhausted. I didn't care about the reason—what mattered was that I could rest quickly tonight.
——
The next morning, I woke up feeling much more refreshed, though my body was still stiff from just getting out of bed.
Luke was no longer on his bed, and the clothes he had been wearing were gone as well.
The curtains were already open, which meant Luke had woken up earlier and probably went out to take care of something.
My hair was still very messy, but I leaned against the window frame and looked down below.
I didn't expect to see someone I knew from here.
Iris was walking together with someone who looked like one of the servants of this house.
Both of them were carrying box-shaped plastic bags in front of their chests. From here, it looked like they had just bought ingredients for cooking.
I immediately got ready by putting on my cloak and left the room—before remembering something.
"Ah right, my sword."
I went back toward the bed and picked up my sword along with its sheath, which I had almost forgotten to bring.
——
"Oh? Good morning, Yukito-sama."
Just as I stepped out of my room, I heard that voice greeting me.
"Morning, Yuu-chan. What's with you? You look like you didn't get enough sleep," I asked.
"It's nothing. I just had some matters to take care of with Hime last night, and I had to help her," Yuu-chan replied.
"All right, I'm going to the bathroom first. I want to wash my face," she said as she walked away.
It was quite rare to see Yuu-chan looking so worn out like that. What happened between her and Hime last night?
I didn't want to think too much about it, so I headed straight to the dining room, only to find no one there.
Huh… didn't I just see Iris with someone buying cooking ingredients earlier? Why isn't there anyone here?
W-wait a second, I can hear a sound coming from the room next door. I'm sure someone is in there.
That room was connected to this one, since there was a door linking the two rooms.
Ckrek.
"All right, just one more menu left. You two, hold on for ten more minutes," Forn-san said.
It turned out that this room was the kitchen used by everyone here. No wonder I saw her going in and out of this room yesterday.
A kitchen, huh… I just found out.
Besides Forn-san, Hime and Iris were also in the room.
At first, I was planning to call out to them, but… the two of them were cooking together, and they looked very enthusiastic.
It felt as if their enthusiasm was burning brightly.
Because I was curious about why the two of them were like that, I asked Forn-san.
"Forn-san, what's going on here?" I asked quietly so that Iris and Hime wouldn't notice me nearby.
I didn't want to disturb them while they were so focused on cooking.
"There was a small incident. Well, in short, the ones cooking breakfast today are those two. Just wait, okay? Their cooking is pretty good," Forn-san replied.
I didn't know why she didn't want to tell me the reason, but I understood well enough now.
Besides, I wasn't curious enough to go so far as to find out why they were doing this.
"Just wait over there. They'll be done soon," she added.
"All right," I replied.
——
After I sat down at the dining table on the floor, I only waited a few minutes before seeing Hime and Iris come out of the kitchen.
They carried several plates filled with freshly cooked food, and there were quite a lot of them.
Considering that there were many people who would be eating, I was sure this amount would be gone quickly.
Their faces were slightly dirty from sauce or something similar. I could tell how hard they had worked on cooking this morning.
If they went that far just to cook, I was sure the food in front of me would taste good.
"Now then, Yuusha, you can eat first. Before everyone else starts eating, you should try it first," Forn-san said to me.
Honestly… I didn't know what to say, so I just followed her words.
As far as I remembered, the plate with meat mixed with vegetables was made by Iris.
And the thick soup, whose contents I couldn't see yet, was made by Hime.
"All right… let's eat," I said before using my spoon and taking turns tasting both dishes.
———
After that, I could honestly tell them that the food was very delicious. Iris and Hime also seemed happy and relieved when they heard my response.
Before joining us at the table to eat together, Forn-san told the two of them that they should change their clothes first.
Since their clothes were already dirty, the two of them returned to their respective rooms to change.
Earlier, Forn-san also asked for my permission to wake up Loki-san. Right, I needed to wake Luke as well.
After everyone was awake and seated at the dining table, we all enjoyed the meal made by Iris and Hime.
Of course, Forn-san helped them too, so the food tasted even better.
As for Yuu-chan… she came to this room on her own after parting ways with me earlier to wash her face.